William t



W. T. HOBMES.

DiSPLAY RACK- APPLICATION FILED FEB-1, me.

Patented May 27, 1919.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM T. HORMES, OF GOVANS, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR T0 SOLOMON IIIMMEL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 27, 1919.

Application filed February 7, 1916. Serial No. 76,700.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. HonMEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at (irovans, in the county of Baltimore and State of Maryland, have invented new and useful Improvements in Display-Racks, of which the following is a specification.-

This invention is an improved display rack, of the type in which the garment supporting member is inclosed within a case, and mounted to move from a position within the case to a point adjacent the front thereof, cases of this type being old and well known in the art.

In display racks of the type to which this invention belongs, the inclosing casing is usually constructed of glass, and the glass panels forming the back of the case are apt to be broken through carelessness of the operator, in moving the rack into the case, before-the same is properly alined with respect to the case, unless provision is made for controlling the movements of the rack. Heretofore, attempts have been made to secure the control of the movement of the rack, necessary to protect the case, usually by providing guide elements which are attached to the case, and providing the rotatable and reciprocable rack withl-a" guide engaging element, thereby controlling the rack movements at all times. These guide elements are of various shapes, all having the outer portion bent,.enlarged, or otherwise formed, topermit of the presenting ofdifierent portions of'the rotatable rack to front position, whereby the merchandise supported by the rack may be readily inspected and handled.

One objectionable feature of the controlling elements of the type above mentioned, as well as of the automatic locking devices used on other racks of the same type, all well known in the art. is that they are all of such form and construction that a change of such means, once the racks are installed in a store, cannot be accomplished without serious trouble and inconvenience to the-merchant. One of the objects of the present invention is to overcome this obj ection by providing simple means whereby the rack may be prevented from rotating while away from front position in the case, but be permitted to rotate when at such front position. A further object is to provide improved means of tliis character which may be readilvapplied to any of the racks of the type towhich the invention belongs, now on the market, without alteration. A further-object is to provide means to overcome the tendency of the operator to rotate the rack while the same is being moved to and from its forward position.

The invention will be hereinafter fully set forth and particularly pointed out in the claims. v r

In the accompanying drawing-:

Figure 1 is atransverse sectional view illustrating the invention, the inclosing casebeing shown in dotted lines. Fig. '2 is a sectional-view taken at right angles to Fig. 1.

7 Referring to the drawing, 10 designates an inclosing case or cabinet, which may be of any suitable or preferred construction, the

caseillustrated being of'a well known type, provided with glass panelsforming the end and rear walls respectively, thefront being closed bysuitable movable sections 11, forming doors, said sections being illustrated in open position,'adjacent-theends of the case, in Fig. 2. Thejbase of the case is provided with a hori zontal channel- 13-, extending transversely thereof, the upper edges being provided with. guides-14, .withgwhich the guides 145 of the-carriage are slidably' mounted. The guides 14 mayengage the carriagenn any desired manner, the guides and the carriage'being illustrated as provided with complemental shoulders '16, ar-,

ranged at the proper angle torreceive antifriction balls 17 The construction so far describedis old and-well known in the art, and has been selected for illustrative purposes. only, and the invention is not limited thereto, but may be applied to any rack, no matter how the same may be mounted for bodily movement.

Rotatably supported in suitable manner by the carriage 15, is a shaft 18, to which is attached a cross head 19, which is provided with means for carrying the garment supporting rods 20. In this connection it must be understood that while the controlling elements heretofore employed in display racks of this type, all vary in shape and construction, the garment supporting portion is standard, '5. e., the garmentsupporting rods corresponding to the rods 20 illustrated in the drawing, are usually, six feet longyand spaced apart substantially the same distance in all of the variousstyles of raclsnow on the market.- Hence any elernent that'inay be detachably connected to the garment supporting rods of one rack can be ust as readily attached to the corresponding bars bar 21 is arranged transversely ofthe rack and passes directly over the upper end of the shaft 18. In Fig. 1 of the drawing, the rack is illustrated in dotted lines in its forward position, in which position it is desired to rotate the rack. Secured to the case in suitable manner, is a stationary c011- trol member, consisting of a roller 27 mounted to rotate on a vertical axis, said roller being positioned above the upper end of the shaft 18, when the rack is in its forward position, the axis of the roller and the axis of the shaft coinciding, When the rack is in the said forward position. Said roller extends into the groove 26 of the bar 21 From the foregoing it will be readily understood that the axis of theshaft 18 is the axis of rotation of the rack, and inasmuch as the grooved bar 21 onthe'rack, passes over the axial line of the rack member, and the groove thereof is at alltimes engaged by the roller 27, it will be understood that the rack can rotate in either direction, when the axis of the shaft 18 coincides with'the axis of the roller 23, and that rotation will be prevented at any time that the roller 23 engages a portion of the groove 26, other than that directly over the upper" end of the shaft 18. f I

Attached to or integrally formed on the groove member 21, are the forwardlyand downwardly projecting handles 28. These handles are directly in front of the axis of rotation of the rack, and project" beyond the clothing suspended from the rods 20, to a suflicient extent'to form a convenient means to enable the operator to draw the rack: forward, or to returnthe same to its inner-position, without any tendency to rotate the rack While it, is being moved. I

It will be understood that while the guide member 21 and the roller 27 are illustrated and described as located above the rack member, the invention is not limited to this specific location, as the rack" movements can be'controlled by placing the parts below the rack. For reasonsdescribed, the location at the top is preferred. v

Having thusexplained' the nature of my invention, and described an operativemair ner" of constructingand using the same, although without attempting to set forth all of th forms in which it may be made, or all of the modescof its use, what I claim is 1. An improvement in display racks comprising a. rotatable rack mounted upon a reciprocable support, a stationary control member, and a movable control member carried by and extending transversely across the rack in a line intersecting its axis of rotation, said control members being in relatively rotatable engagement at all times, .the stationary control member being positioned to cause the aXis of rotation of the rack to coincide with the axis of the stationary control member when the rack support is at one extreme of its reciprocatory movement, rotation of the rack at all other times being prevented solely by the eccentric relation of said axes due to reciprocal movement of the said rack.

2. An improvement in display racks comprising a rotatable rack mounted upon a reciproc'able support, a stationary control member, and a movable control member carried by and extending transversely across the rack in a line intersecting its axis of rotation, said movable control member being provided with a longitudinal groove, said stationary control member projecting into and being in relatively rotatable engagement with the movable control member at all times, the stationary control member be ing positioned to cause "the axis of rotation of the rack to coincide with the axis of the stationary control member when the rack support is at one extreme of its reciprocatorymovement, rotation of the rack at all other times beingprevented solely by the eccentric relation of said'axes due to reciprocable movementof said rack.

3. An'improvemenj; in display racks c0mprisinga rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate within a case, a control member extending transversely of the case in a li ne'inteb sectingthe axis of rotation'of said rack, means for detachably securing said'control member to saidrack, and a second control member attached to the case engaging the first mentioned control member, said second control member being positioned to coincide with the axis of rotation of the rack when the latter-"is at one extreme of its reciprocable movement.

4. An improvement in display racks comprising a rotatable rack provided with spacedapart rods, said rack being mounted to reciprocate Within a case, a grooved control bar attached to said rods and extending transversely of the case in a lineintersecting the axis of rotationof said rack, and a control member attached to said case and having slidable engagement with the grooved control bar, said'control member being positioned to coincide with the axis of rotation of the rack when the latter'is in one extreme of its reciprocable movement,

5. An improvement in display racks comprising a rotatable rack mounted to reciprocate within a case, a control member carried by the rack and extending transversely of the case in a line intersecting the axis of rotation of said rack, a second control mem ber attached to said case and having slidable engagement with the first mentioned control member, said second control member being positioned to coincide with the ax s of rotation of the rack when the latter is at one extreme of its reciprocable movement, and handles positioned in alinement with said guide member.

6. An improvement in dlsplay racks comprising a rotatable rack mounted upon a reciprocable support a stationary control member, and a movable control member carried by and extending transversely across the rack in a line intersecting its axis of ro- Copies of this patent may be obtained for tation, said control :members being in engagement at all times, the stationary control member being positioned to cause the axis of rotation of the rack to coincide with the axis of the stationary control member when the rack support is at one extreme of its reoiprocatory movement, rotation of the rack at all other times being prevented by the eccentric relation of said axes due to reciprocable movement of said rack, the free ends of the movable control member having downturned portions shaped to provide handles.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM T. HORMES. Witnesses:

STEPHEN CAMPBELL, MARGARET LIEADE.

Washington, D. 0." 

